The major criticism I saw this morning of the New York Film Critics Circle and their live-voting awards show, as broadcast to the world by several member Twitter accounts, was that they seem to be placing a higher priority on being first than any other element of being relevant. Then again, their choice for best picture — Michel Hazavanicius’ silent smash The Artist – is the talk of The Town this awards season, so it doesn’t seem out of left field or completely irrelevant that they chose to honor it with both Best Pic and Best Director. What is striking about this morning’s NYFCC awards, however, isn’t the awards at all, it’s the fact that they were mightily overshadowed by the postings of a fake account on Twitter. Is that a comment itself on the awards process itself, that the most entertaining part of it all what the part not taking it seriously in the least?

Lets explore a bit, shall we?

First, some select winners from the NYFCC awards, courtesy of the folks at IndieWire:

Best Film:
The Artist

Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Screenplay:
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball”

Best Actress:
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Actor:
Brad Pitt, Moneyball and The Tree of Life

Best Supporting Actress:
Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter and The Help

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Cinematography:
The Tree of Life

Best Non-fiction Film:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, directed by Werner Herzog

And now, a selection of tweet from the Fake Armond White (@ArmondWhite) account:

See, even something as specifically inside-basebally as a fake Twitter account for a rabble-rousing film critic can be pretty funny. Isn’t awards season fun?